


Firefly [Omakes]

by Reinamy



Series: Firefly [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Drama, F/M, Female Uzumaki Naruto, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Genderswap, Humor, Omake, Romance, Snapshots, Time Skips, True Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-14
Updated: 2014-07-14
Packaged: 2018-02-08 19:00:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1952508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reinamy/pseuds/Reinamy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of omakes/extras/vignettes from my story <i>Firefly</i>. </p><p>Themes and genres will vary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. in which shino realizes he's in love

**Author's Note:**

> While not necessary to the plot of the main story, they certainly add to the overall experience in my humble opinion. If you had to read just one, I'd highly recommend reading the first one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set immediately after the events of chapter 1.

 

"Hey, Shino, what are you looking at?"

Naruto settled in beside him and peered closely at the tree he was studying, eyes roaming over the bark like its patterns and arches held secrets she wasn't privy to but desperately wanted to know.

"The insects," Shino said in a monotone. He carefully observed her face for signs of disgust and relaxed when he saw none there. There was only curiosity and interest, and Shino suspected none of it was feigned.

"Oh. You like bugs, Shino?"

That was certainly putting it mildly. "I'm fascinated by them," he said, unashamed to admit his interest in something most people were repulsed by.

"Oh. Yeah, I get that," Naruto nodded, surprising Shino. She astonished him further by turning to him with sparkling eyes and exclaiming, "There's this place I like to go to by the river and it's always real quiet 'cause no one ever goes there, probably 'cause it's hard to get to but  _I_ can 'cause I'm small, but anyway, there's lots of flowers and trees there and I like to lay in the grass and watch the bugs, too. They're kinda interesting, right? Like they have their own little world or, or some  _secret society_  or something, where they're just like us except they think  _we're_ the gross ones. It's kinda cool to think about, right?"

Shino stared at her wordlessly.

"You should probably finish your lunch, though, 'cause I think the break is going to be over soon and then—"

"My clan is renowned for using insects in combat," Shino interrupted her, mouth forming words faster than his brain could provide them. "At birth we're offered to special breeds of insects as organic nests. They enter our bodies through the pores in our skin and remain in symbiosis with us until we die." Shino adjusted his glasses and continued evenly, "it's a mutually beneficial arrangement between us. They take refuge beneath our skin and in doing so are given a limitless food supply and a secure area to breed, and in exchange they give us access to their unique talents and allow us to use them in battle.

"The breed I host are called  _kikaichuu_  and the Aburame are the only clan in the Elemental Nations capable of utilizing them in such a way."

Shino fell silent and observed Naruto, who was doing an admirable impression of a koi. She stared at him with wide, disbelieving eyes and Shino had to wonder if his impulsive decision to share such sensitive information had been the best decision. He would have told her eventually, of course, but perhaps it might have been more considerate of him to wait until she'd known him for longer than a day.

He didn't want to scare her off, which was a shocking realization. At some point in his childhood Shino had become accustomed, and later desensitized, to others rejecting him because of who he was and what he contained. In retaliation, or perhaps as a defense mechanism, he'd developed and abided by the opinion that those who could not accept him were  _worthless_. Shino's pride in his clan and his allies was as much a part of him as the colony beneath his skin, and to undermine that by pandering to the delicate sensibilities of others felt akin to personal treason.

Shino did not see the value in wasting time, or effort, in trying to sway the minds of imbeciles and endear himself to fools. He supposed it was a cynical outlook for a seven year old to have but there were only so many times one could be rejected and shunned before they built a bulwark to stave off the…humiliation.

And yet there he was, worrying over the opinion of someone he barely knew and mulling over ways to make her feel comfortable with him. Shino was certain that if someone were to place a mirror in front of him right then he probably wouldn't have been able to recognize himself. The idea that she was  _dangerous_ reared itself again but before Shino could chase the thought he was interrupted—perhaps fortunately, perhaps not—by an earsplitting shout that made him wince.

"That. Is. So.  _Cool!_ " Naruto cried, and she moved  _closer_ to Shino—not away like he would have expected and like so many others did. She shifted so close their knees touched and leaned forward with little regard to propriety or personal space. Shino was beginning to understand that she didn't comprehend, or care about, the meaning of either.

Though he'd never been tactile or keen on being touched he found he didn't mind it so much when it was her—the familiar feeling of aversion replaced by something almost pleased.

Shino felt like a pearl in the mouth of an oyster beneath her elated, fascinated gaze; like he was something unexpected, and valuable, and entirely new. There was none of the morbid curiosity or veiled dislike he so often saw. None of the unease, or fear, or contempt. Her face was as open as the sky was wide and Shino felt something splinter inside him, and something else begin to heal.

"So you have a whole bunch of bugs inside of you  _right now_? And they can do whatever you want them to?" She asked through narrowed eyes as if she was trying to see through his clothes and skin.

Shino wordlessly lifted his arm and a black insect, barely larger than a grain of rice, scuttled out of his sleeve. More followed, crawling out through his skin and joining the others, until they covered every visible inch of skin.

Naruto clenched her hands into fists as if she was trying her hardest not to reach out and touch.

"So what can they do?" she asked, eyes riveted and unblinking.

Shino, feeling hopelessly overwhelmed, disclosed what he was permitted to while he struggled to deal with the realization that he'd just fallen in love.

 

**owari.**


	2. in which shino brings home an injured naruto

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set sometime between Ch.1 and Ch.2.

Shino could honestly say that he had never been more terrified in all his eight years of life.

Things had been going well. He and Naruto had been training in taijutsu—not the Academy standard one, which was inadequate at best, but an outdated variation of his clan's current style which his parents had granted him permission to share with her— _and things had been fine_.

That was, up until Shino had kicked her shoulder in and a sickening popping sound had resounded through training ground three.

He had frozen in horror when Naruto had fallen to her knees in shock, her trembling fingers hovering over a visibly dislocated shoulder. It had taken until the first tear had fallen before his brain had resumed proper functioning, and he'd hastily gripped her uninjured arm and lead her to his compound, which was  _mercifully_  close by.

And now here they were, sat before his mother while she examined the injury and Naruto tried her best not to cry.

This wasn't how Shino had wanted them to meet.

He forced the thought from his mind and watched, avidly, as his mother carefully cut through the material of Naruto's shirt with a kunai. He was too anxious to be embarrassed when the garment was torn away and Naruto was left clad in a small, strapless undershirt which put the extent of the damage on display.

Shino felt sick just looking at it.

"Uzumaki-san, I'm now going to push your dislocated shoulder back into place. It will hurt," Noriko warned, staring her straight in the eye, "but once it is reset the pain will decrease considerably." She gave Naruto a thoughtful look and added, "I have a method of numbing the area more thoroughly than most prescribed numbing agents, however, in doing so I will need to relocate several of my kikaichuu to the injured area. Do you consent?"

"Yeah," Naruto croaked.

Shino didn't think she understood half of what his mother had said and would have probably consented to anything as long as the word "numbing" was uttered, but he kept the thought to himself.

"You're handling this with more maturity than most girls your age would," Noriko commented in approval. "Now, I'm going to count to five and push. Bite this," she handed her the remnants of her destroyed shirt and Naruto dutifully set it between her teeth.

Shino moved forward and held out his hand, and with a look of relieved gratitude, Naruto took it.

"One…two.."

Shino's held his breath in apprehension.

"Three…four…"

The silence in the room was shattered as another sickening  _pop_ resounded, quickly followed by a gut-wrenching scream. The bones in Shino's hands felt like they were being ground to dust but he didn't allow himself the luxury of even wincing. He deserved a lot more than a crushed hand for causing Naruto to scream like  _that_.

As Naruto slumped forward and panted, his mother's kikaichuu immediately swarmed to the area and began to glow. Shino watched as some of the furious bruising began to ebb, fading from a dark array of purples and blues to softer hues of yellow and green.

Noriko brushed her fingers against Naruto's sweaty brow, and the action made Shino feel warm, though he couldn't quite figure out why.

Naruto looked up in weary surprise, but it was short-lived as Noriko placed her hand above the injury and gently pressed.

"How does it feel, Uzumaki-san?"

"Better," Naruto admitted, to Shino's immense relief. "It feels more like a bruised muscle and less like I was stabbed with a hot poker a dozen times."

And just like that the cloying guilt returned.

Noriko huffed in amusement at the analogy and withdrew her hand. "I'll administer a proper pain-relief antidote later, Uzumaki-san. Aside from severe tenderness it should be fine, though I'd suggest you visit the hospital if your condition worsens. For the next week you will need to refrain from…"

Shino studied Naruto's face as his mother instructed her on everything she'd need to do, and not do, to recuperate properly. There were still remnants of pain there, etched into the lines of her face, but they were mere shadows compared to the agony that been there only minutes ago.

"I got it," Naruto said with a careful nod. "Thanks for healing me, Aburame-san."

"It was no trouble, Uzumaki-san," Noriko intoned. She recalled her allies, and while she appeared to be apathetic, Shino knew that she was shrewdly observing Naruto for her reaction.

Naruto didn't disappoint. She stared in open fascination as the glow surrounding the kikaichuu dissipated and they rose into the air and returned to their host.

Shino caught the gleam of satisfaction in his mother's eyes and felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. It was a rare thing, indeed, to find someone who responded so well to their allies. Even those who weren't outright fearful or disgusted tended to react poorly when forced to be in close proximity with them, never mind in direct contact. Non-clan members who showed the level of enthrallment Naruto was currently showing were  _rare_.

And Shino had found her first.

Noriko shot Shino an approving look and he felt it sink though his skin, straight to his very heart. He turned his head to hide his smile, which widened when he heard the soft huff of his mother's laughter.

"I'll retrieve the medicine for you now, Uzumaki-san. If you're feeling up to it, perhaps you should consider staying for dinner."

Shino looked up just in time to see Naruto's face slacken in shock.

"Me?" she asked incredulously.

Noriko's eyebrows rose over her glasses. "Yes. My husband and I had been intending to invite you for some time now, but between our missions it has been difficult deciding upon a date when we'd both be available. Unfortunately he is not currently in the village, but that is of no consequence. He can make your acquaintance the next time you visit."

"The next…" she trailed off, then ducked her head when words seemed to have deserted her.

Shino clenched his free hand into a fist, infuriated that such a simple thing like a dinner invitation could cause such a visceral reaction from her. With renewed determination he vowed that he  _would_  find out why Naruto was treated as she was. Their efforts had been unproductive so far, but Shino was certain that  _something_ , or perhaps _someone_ , would eventually have to give. He just needed to find a better method, or perhaps a different angle, of approaching the mystery that surrounded her.

"Are you amenable?"

"I…y-yes," Naruto stuttered. "If it's not too much trouble."

"It's not," Noriko said, scrutinizing her with narrowed eyes.

Shino could almost feel the displeasure radiating from his mother in waves.

"Shino-kun, perhaps you should bring Naruto to your room to rest?" She waited for him to nod in agreement before continuing, "if you'll excuse me, then. I'll come by with the medicine shortly, Uzumaki-san."

His mother gave Naruto a short bow, which Naruto was too busy studying the floor to see, and quickly left.

The silence that lingered in her wake was anything but comfortable.

"How do you feel?" Shino asked, after a while.

"Like someone kicked my shoulder out of its socket," Naruto responded dryly.

Shino flinched and said stiffly, "I apologize for that, Naruto. Harming you so severely was not my intention."

Naruto looked up, and whatever she saw in his expression was enough to ease some of the tightness from her face.

"It's alright. Accidents happen, I guess. Besides, that kick  _was_  kind of badass. I should have been able to block it." Her expression morphed into something fierce. "And next time I  _will_."

Shino allowed some of the tension to trickle from his shoulders.

"Your mom seems real nice," Naruto said after another long pause.

There were a myriad of emotions lurking within her tone, but Shino was too emotionally exhausted to even consider unraveling them.

"She is," he agreed. "It's unfortunate that the two of you had to meet under such stressful circumstances. Hopefully the meeting between you and my father won't be as…intense."

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize," he leveled her with a flat look. "In any event, you managed to impress my mother quite a bit, which is rare. She's not one to get impressed easily."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Despite being in unimaginable pain you were very well-composed, and that is a trait those in my clan highly respect," Shino told her, adjusting his glasses. "Additionally, you did not show aversion to my mother's allies, which she found both endearing and admirable. She is quite taken with you," Shino said with no small amount of pride.

He would have been displeased if Naruto and his mother had not gotten along.

Naruto gaped at him even as an embarrassed flush rose to her face. "What? How did you get  _any_ of that from her? No offense or anything, but…she looked so… _blank_. I couldn't read her at all!"

Shino bit back an amused snort. His mother had been the most emotional he'd seen her in weeks.

"You'll find it easier to read her once you become better acquainted with her," he said. When Naruto shot him a disbelieving look he asked, "What am I feeling right now?"

"Amusement," Naruto said immediately, then with a scowl, "you're laughing at me, you jerk."

Shino's lips twitched. "And yet my facial muscles have barely moved throughout our entire conversation."

It took a moment for Naruto to get it. "Oh! I see! Hey, is your dad the same way?"

"Compared to my father, my mother is quite animated," Shino corrected, taking delight in the way Naruto's shoulders slumped and she mumbled something along the lines of ' _you people need to come with a handbook.'_

Feeling lighter than he'd had in over an hour, Shino stood from his seat and pulled Naruto up with him. "Come. I'll show you to my room. You need to rest and it would be impolite to have my mother searching the entire compound for us."

"Alright," she said, and followed him.

Neither of them commented on the hands that remained entwined, but when Shino carefully squeezed Naruto's fingers, Naruto, just as gently, squeezed back.

 

**owari.**


	3. in which kakashi sucks as a sensei and naruto is a bamf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set during the events of chapter 3.

"Tree climbing! But I already know how to climb a tree!" Naruto insisted.

"Yeah, sensei! They taught us that in the Academy!" Sakura added.

Kakashi sighed. Why, oh why, couldn't he have been given genin who actually did what he told them to without arguing at every turn?

"That's not what I meant," he said. "Watch. I should have enough chakra for this." He then promptly walked up the nearest tree, one hand gripping his crutch and the other stuffed in his pocket. When he looked down, his genin were staring up at him in awe. He jumped down, pleased by their reaction.

"See? That's what I meant. All you have to do is channel some chakra into your feet and climb. Come to me when you've made it to the top of the tree, alright?"

He made to turn but was stopped by a relentless tug on his sleeve.

"Sensei, I already know how to do this!" Naruto complained.

Kakashi gave her a dubious look. "Oh?"

"Yeah! I made Shino teach me because you're always too lazy to show us anything useful! He taught me  _weeks_ ago!"

Kakashi could almost feel the glares of his other two genin drilling holes into his back.

"Show me," Kakashi commanded.

Naruto leveled him with a flat look and promptly walked up the nearest tree. She got to the highest point  _then kept on walking_  until she was hanging upside down from the end of the branch. She dropped, flipped, and landed in the same spot she'd been before.

Kakashi felt a bead a sweat run down his brow as Sakura hissed, " _Kakashi-sensei!_ "

"Well, it's about who you know and all that," he said vaguely. He beamed at his two seething students and returned his attention to Naruto, who was grinning cheekily at him.

The underhanded little brat.

"Ah…since you've got tree-walking covered I suppose I could teach you how to walk on water—"

"I can already do that, too," she interrupted him, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

Kakashi coughed when the glares suddenly became laced with killing intent.

"I see. How good are you at it?"

"Shino and I sometimes spar for hours on the pond behind his compound, and sometimes his mom comes and disrupts the flow of the water and makes it all choppy so it's like walking over currents," she said, oblivious to the way Kakashi's shoulders were slumping.

"Oh," he said.

The killing intent aimed at his back spiked up a notch.

"Well, nothing we can do about it now! You two start walking and Naruto-chan and I," he latched onto the girl's shoulders, "will do something else. Come find us when you're done. Bye-bye now!" He quickly  _shunshin'd_ them away, ignoring the furious protests of Sakura and Sasuke and the startled cry of the girl in his arms.

As Kakashi fled, he cursed both Kurenai and Naruto's creepy friend for all the work he'd have to do now, because surely neither Sasuke nor Sakura would let the fact that  _Naruto_  had learned something before them go. Kakashi could almost feel his days of leisure slipping between his fingers.

(Somewhere in Konoha, a miserable genin and his concerned sensei started to sneeze.)

Not for the first time, Hatake Kakashi regretted letting the Hokage bully him into taking on a genin team.

He would have been better off retiring.

 

**owari.**


	4. in which shino meets jiraiya and brain cells are lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set after the events of chapter 4.

Training that day had been grueling.

Kurenai-sensei had never been a soft teacher. She was lenient, but she wasn't  _soft_. She had high expectations of her genin and the members of Team 8 had long ago learned that failing to meet them was… _detrimental_  to their collective well-being. No matter how exhausted they were, be it physically or mentally, when Kurenai-sensei said _get up and keep going,_ Team 8 did so without complaint.

Needless to say, Shino was no stranger to being pushed to his limits. Chakra exhaustion, mental fatigue, muscle strain—he was  _used_ to it. They were  _all_ used to it. It was, after all, nothing that couldn't be remedied with proper medical attention and a full night of rest.

However, that was before Kurenai-sensei had learned about Team 7's C-rank turned A-rank mission, not to mention the atypical final round of the Chuunin Exams, and had promptly increased the intensity of their training twentyfold.

With a bone-weary sigh, Shino forced his feet to go in the opposite direction of his compound (and incidentally, his bed) and made his way towards the main river. Regardless how exhausted he was he would not break the promise he had made with Naruto to come by and meet her new sensei. Not when her trust had already been shattered once that month.

Shino grit his teeth and resolutely forced his thoughts away from the  _inconceivably useless_ jounin who had abandoned Naruto when she'd needed his help his most. Just thinking about the  _temerity_ of that man made Shino want to commit acts that would likely land him in the Torture and Interrogation department within the day.

The way Naruto had looked when she'd told him that Hatake had disappeared with the Uchiha to train him, eyes dull with disappointment and voice laced with defeat, was imprinted in his mind like a physical brand. Shino had not seen Naruto look like that since they'd been children, back when the words and actions of the villagers still had such an impact on her, and for that alone Shino would never forgive him.

Only the fact that Naruto hardly needed Shino to fight her battles for her kept him from doing something reckless.

With an exhale that bordered on a growl, he tried to clear his thoughts. It would not do to dwell, especially when he was about to meet with Naruto. She did not need to be reminded of Hatake's betrayal, and Shino wanted no part in upsetting her further.

The walk to the river was a relatively short one. Several civilians nodded to Shino in respect as he passed them by, but the way they shuffled away from him and shot him wary glances did not go unnoticed. He ignored it all, as accustomed to the treatment as he was to breathing, and kept his gaze forward.

It didn't take long to leave the market district, and he felt his shoulders ease by a fraction as he descended into a more rural area of the village which was densely populated by trees that seemed to touch the sky, gnarled roots the size of farm animals, and calf-high grass that spread out into rolling green pastures.

Shino heard Naruto's voice before he saw her, but that wasn't uncommon. What stopped him in his tracks was the sight of her in an orange swimsuit (and Shino had to wonder how she managed to find so many items of clothing in that same garish color) that was a few sizes too small and left very little to the imagination. Shino swallowed heavily and tried not stare as she bounced on her heels in obvious excitement.

Admittedly, he wasn't succeeding very well.

"Shino!" Naruto shouted when she caught sight of him. "You came!"

Shino quickly averted his gaze when she bounded towards him. "I said I would," he said, voice deceptively even.

"And you never break your promises," Naruto chirped, grabbing his arm. "Come, I want you to meet someone!"

It was then that Shino remembered the purpose of the visit and he finally took notice of the other person there.

It was a man. Older, perhaps in the mid-to-late fifties range. He was tall and heavily muscled, so a combat fighter, then, and an efficient one if his age and hair length (which was bone white) was any indication. Only experienced shinobi with the confidence and skill would dare to keep their hair so long. Shino continued his scrutiny, noting the horned hitai-ate with the kanji for  _oil_ engraved at the center and the crimson stripes that ran down his eyes like tear tracks. Possibly paint, but more than likely a tattoo of sorts if the way it reflected light was anything to go by. Carried with him a large scroll so either a summoner or someone adept at fuuinjutsu. If the the man was who he thought he was, likely both.

"Shino, this is—"

"The Toad Sage, Jiraiya," Shino asserted with a hint of genuine surprise. "One of Konoha's Legendary Sannin. Student of the Sandaime Hokage and teacher of the Yondaime Hokage. Seal Master and currently the only person who holds the Summoning Contract with the toads."

Naruto gaped at him. "What! You've met before?"

"No. Jiraiya-sama's reputation precedes him."

"Ho-ho," the subject of their discussion chuckled. "I think I like you, kid! At least you know how to respect greatness when you see it, unlike a certain  _disrespectful little runt_  here."

"Greatness my ass!" the 'disrespectful little runt' shouted.

"Watch it, you ungrateful brat!"

"Make me, pervert sage!"

"What did I tell you about calling me that!"

"I'll call you whatever I want! Pervert sage, pervert sage, pervert— _ahh_!"

Shino proceeded to watch as one of Konohagakure's most prestigious figures chased around a genin, slipped on a wet patch of grass, and fell into the river. Naruto clutched her stomach and howled with laughter up until something long and white— _hair_ , Shino realized belatedly—wrapped itself around her ankle and yanked her into the water, where she proceeded to flail and shout obscenities that would make Inuzuka Kiba blush.

As Shino watched, it struck him that he was looking at an older version of Naruto. He allowed himself a few seconds to mourn his life choices before he began to calculate how to go about stealing a DNA sample from one of the Legendary Sannin without him realizing it.

"Oi! Watch your hands, you pervert! Or I'm going to kick your old, wrinkly ass from here to Kumo!"

"Ha! As if you have anything to touch, brat! I've seen trees with more shape than you!"

"Why you dirty piece of saggy—!"

"Naruto," Shino interrupted. He absolutely did not want to know how Naruto was going to finish that sentence.

Naruto blinked and craned her head over her shoulder. "Oh! Hey, Shino. I forgot you were here!"

The Toad Sage snorted. "Some girlfriend you are. No wonder your boy over there looks so miserable."

Naruto's blush put tomatoes to shame. "He's not my boyfriend!" she said quickly, eyes flickering towards Shino.

"Really?" Jiraiya leered. "That's not what it sounded like when you were going on about how  _wonderful_ and _brilliant_ and  _oh-so-nice_ Shino-kun was," he sounded suspiciously coy as he added, "But perhaps you were referring to another Shino-kun, eh? I've gotta admit, this kid doesn't look like much."

Naruto looked like she didn't know whether to die from embarrassment or pound the old man into the ground. To Shino's pleasure, she settled for saying, "Don't talk about him that way!" though it was ruined when she added, "And we're not dating, you pervert!"

Jiraiya nodded with an air of understanding about him. "Mm, I guess not. I don't really see the two of you together, anyway."

Shino felt the first stirring of irritation and he leveled a flat look at the smirking man.

"What?" Naruto rounded on him. "What do you mean?"

Jiraiya stuck a finger in his ear and stepped out of the river with a nonchalant shrug. "Oh, nothing much. Your vehement denial of dating the guy just makes a lot more sense when you think about it that way. You guys are total opposites, after all. Sorry, kid, I shouldn't have said anything."

Naruto looked horrified. "W-what! But! I-I didn't mean… _Shino!_ "

She looked at Shino with such profound helplessness that he couldn't bring himself to let her reap the consequences of letting her mouth run.

With a sigh, Shino adjusted his glasses and suggested, "Why don't you show me that jutsu you've been telling me about, Naruto?"

"Yes!" she yelled with audible relief. "Good idea! Come on, Shino, get away from that creepy pervert and let me show you what I can do! It's  _awesome_."

Shino disregarded the fact that he was still fully clothed and let himself be dragged into the river.

Naruto faced him determinedly, widened her stance, then lifted her hands to perform the ram hand seal. She faltered, stood immobile for several seconds, then let her hands fall to her sides along with her gaze.

"Shino…you know that's not true, right?" She muttered, kicking at the water. "About what he said, I mean. None of it is true, you know that, right? You…I mean, we…um…"

Shino huffed in amusement and captured one of her hands. "I know, Naruto," he said, simply.

Things were…promising, for the two of them. But it wasn't time. Not yet.

The girl promptly wilted with relief. "That's…good. I didn't want you to think—"

A poorly stifled giggle caught their attention and they both turned simultaneously towards the noise. Shino took several steps back as Naruto flailed at the sight of the Toad Sage squatting below them, steady as a stone above the waves. He had a pencil in one hand and a book in the other and he was staring between the two of them with enraptured delight.

"What do you think you're doing you damn pervert sage!" Naruto erupted.

"Oh, don't mind little ol' me," the Sannin encouraged them. He lowered the pencil to the book and said, "Continue what you two were doing, please."

"Are you…are you  _using us as research material for your pervy books_?" she squawked.

"Of course I am," Jiraiya boasted, shamelessly. "I'm a popular novelist, after all, and I need to get my inspiration from somewhere." His gaze turned utterly suggestive as he continued in a whisper, "And the two of you are absolute gold! The chemistry between you! The closeness! Shino-kun over there will make the perfect protagonist for my next book: a sad, emotionally-crippled boy on the verge of manhood who struggled to open his heart to others until a brash young girl shows him the joys of the flesh and how it feels to be loved…" he broke off into peals of inappropriate giggles.

"I…I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU STUPID PERVERT! GET OVER HERE AND DIE!"

Shino stuffed his hands into his pockets and shuffled towards a nearby tree that had an inviting indent. He figured he could get away with taking a nap for an hour or so—he doubted Naruto would notice.

"AH! THAT'S MY BOOK, YOU BRAT! NO! DIDN'T ANYONE EVER TEACH YOU THAT WATER AND PAPER—"

"I SEE MY NAME IN HERE! AGH, I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU, YOU CREEPY LECHER! WAIT 'TIL I TELL TSUNADE-BAACHAN ON YOU!"

Shino adjusted his glasses with a sigh.

It was going to be a long day.

 

**owari.**


End file.
